A Harder Beginning
by Elemental Serenity
Summary: What if Twilight Princess had begun differently? Just a short alternate beginning to the game. Slight Zelink. Oneshot, for now.


**Just a short take on an alternate beginning to Twilight Princess. AU-ish, where Link lives in the Castle Town. Zelink. I'm a newb, and I've never written anything for Zelda, and TTP is the only game I've played, so go easy on me :) **

**Also note, I am not using the same dialogue as in the game, obviously- I don't have it memorized, thanks. haha but I'll try and get it to be along the same lines :)**

* * *

Link's long journey home was just that- long and tedious, through the bright, sultry southern landscape of Hyrule, towards his home in the castle town. It was a small, rustic house that he lived in on his own. It was plenty for just him, and the stables weren't very far of a distance, just inside the city walls. However, he loved the view most, as it was just beneath the grandeur of Zelda's castle.

Trotting along on Epona's back, Link smiled. He did every time he thought of Zelda, he couldn't help it. He'd met her when he was just a small boy, playing outside the castle gates. She appeared from behind the door with her father, elegant and quiet, and with a stunning beauty. He remembered the odd look she'd given him, but the genuine smile she wore when he'd asked her to play. They'd been fast friends ever since. Now he even caught himself smiling at her when he looked at her, though tried to deny it and cover it up every time she looked. To be blunt, he'd fallen in love, and he'd hoped she had as well.

As he and Epona finally came to the clearing of Hyrule field from the shaded forests, Link looked upwards to the sky. _Goddesses, how beautiful…_he thought to himself. Struck with love, he couldn't help but see her grey-blue eyes as he looked at the crystal sky.

Suddenly, he remembered something he'd forgotten after his long trip. Reaching into his satchel that was tied to Epona's saddle, he pulled out a delicate silver necklace, the charm in the shape of a heart, the Triforce engraved lightly with a translucent silver crystal. He'd saved up forever to by the necklace alone, then he'd crafted the crystal emblem to the front himself. He prayed to the goddesses that she liked it.

Looking up towards the distant castle, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he halted Epona instantly to see right. Off in the distance, instead of the castle shining bright and majestic, it was engulfed in flame and smoke, and it seemed like the entire city had been engulfed in a strange darkness. Panic gripping him, Link spurred Epona into a dash, horrible thoughts filling his mind. But the one thing that continued to repeat in his mind was the question, was Zelda alright?

Reaching the end of the field, he pressed Epona on as they sped around the corner of the rocky ledge, though suddenly stopped as they saw an ominous black and orange wall blocking their way. Terrified, Epona skidded to a halt and reared, whinnying madly, sending Link flying onto the harsh ground. Epona, though she didn't flee, backed away from the menacing wall.

Link, trying to regain his breath from the fall, looked up at the wall with both curiosity and fear. Slowly standing up, he picked up the necklace which he'd dropped beside him and began to back away as Epona had done. However, a sudden rumbling came from the wall, and before he could react, a large orange hand shot from the wall and gripped him tightly, knocking away his breath once more.

As the hand dragged him through the wall, Link felt a sudden sense of dizziness and began to black out. The only things he could remember were being held by a monster one moment, then being on the ground, weakly grasping for the necklace in another, then feeling his body sear with pain as his body seemed to…_change_. He then fell into an inky blackness as he felt himself being dragged away. What he didn't see was the blue and black impish girl following silently behind them.

* * *

Suddenly jerking awake, Link looked around blurrily at the room around him. He saw bars and stone walls and floors, but nothing else. Where was he? Stretching his muscles, he came to find them extremely sore. Trying to stand up, he felt as though his arms and legs were stretched to weird angles, though they didn't hurt as though they'd broken. Finally standing, he realized that instead of his naturally-given two legs, he now stood on four.

Fear gripping him once more, he tried to move, though found his movements hindered by a chain around his paw. He struggled against it, at one point even taking the chains into his teeth and pulling them, though it was no use against the hard steel.

Suddenly, he heard a faint giggle. His new ears perking up, he looked up to find the impish girl grinning strangely at him. She laughed once more and he backed as far away as he could, growling and baring his teeth.

She laughed again. "Are you sure you want to be doing that?" she taunted. "I _was_ going to help you, if you were nice…"

Link immediately stopped his growling. If she could help him out of this musty death hole, he'd do a flip for her. He had to get to the castle and find Zelda, even if it meant pleasing an annoying little imp.

She grinned widely at him, and giggled once more. "You humans are loyal to a fault." She paused, lifting her hand suddenly and gripping her fist. One of the links in the chain suddenly disappeared half way between his paw and the ground, and he pulled his paw away gladly. "But you aren't human anymore, are you?" she laughed, and Link pushed away the temptation to growl again.

"Now," she suddenly continued, "We find our way out of here."

* * *

After a long "adventure" through the dungeons and the roof of the castle- which is where he finally realized he'd been the entire time- he and Midna, the imp, finally arrived in the largest tower, rain soaked and shivering. Midna pressed him onwards, however, and he obediently ran up the stairs. He'd never been in this tower before, and he wondered what lay inside.

Luckily, the door was slightly open, and he was able to push his way inside easily. The room was mostly empty, a small table and a bed to one side, and a wooden chair and fireplace on the other. The room was bleak and bare, and was cold from the open window. Just next to the window, in a dark cloak, a lone figure stood staring out over the castle. Nervous, Link began to growl at the figure.

Hearing the growl, the figure suddenly turned, and Link immediately realized the delicate face that peeked out slightly from beneath the hood of the cloak. Running up to her, he tried to speak but couldn't, and only a bark came out. Embarrassed and frightened, he looked at her anxiously, wishing she could understand. However, she only took a slight step backwards and looked at him in slight fear. As she took off her hood, he almost felt a twinge of sympathy; he'd never seen Zelda look so worn and sad.

Suddenly, from behind Link, Midna appeared with a bright smile.

"Midna!" Zelda said surprised. "What…Is this the one you were looking for?"

Midna chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose he'll do…" She paused, thinking for a moment. "But I think you wanted to see him too." Holding out her hand, a flash of silver suddenly appeared above her palm- the necklace that Link had dropped.

Zelda frowned. "What is…" she stopped suddenly, a flash of realization crossing her face. Turning, she looked at Link in disbelief. "Link?" she asked wearily, walking towards him slowly and sitting on her knees in front of him. Looking into his eyes, his blue feral eyes, she suddenly knew. "Link! Oh goddesses…What happened to you?" As a look of relief crossed Link's canine countenance, she stroked his cheek lovingly.

"He's been transformed by the twilight," Midna said, suddenly sober, the others looking at her with equal solemnity. "I don't even know if he can go back to his original form now."

Link and Zelda looked at each other, each thinking of the horrible possibility. However, Zelda suddenly wrapped her arms around the wolf, burying her face into the warm fur. "At least you're ok…I was so worried…"

"What about you?" Midna asked the same question that Link was thinking but couldn't say. "What exactly happened here?"

Zelda sat back, her eyes lowering to the ground and filling with tears. As she retold the story of how Zant had taken over the castle and cast the land into shadow, Link stiffened and growled slightly at the thought. Zelda, surprised, smiled gently at Link. "It's ok, they didn't hurt me…But now I'm locked up here, and I can't leave…in fact," she suddenly thought, worried, "the guard will be coming soon."

As though on cue, they could hear the door swinging open violently on the floor beneath them, and all three stiffened and looked at one another. Link was the first to recover and walked to the door, growling menacingly, ready to defend.

"No, you have to go," Zelda said urgently, but with a tone of sadness. Link looked back at her shocked and walked towards her, silently telling her that he wasn't going to leave. "Please," she continued to urge. "You have to go, you'll be killed!" Link continued to silently protest, though Zelda pleaded one more time, her voice cracking, "Please…"

Though Link still didn't want to go, he hesitantly ran and picked up the silver necklace in his teeth, giving it to Zelda. She smiled, a tear running down her face. "Thank you…" she said quietly, wrapping her arms around Link once more. "I'll be waiting here for you," she said, hugging him close. They had to break apart, however, when Midna quietly urged, "Come on, we have to go!"

Giving Zelda one last glance, Link then sprinted out the door, Midna on his back once more.

Looking out the window after the guard had left, Zelda could see through streaming tears and the storm-filled twilight the silhouette of the wolf sprinting away from the castle in the distance.

Even the horrible rain didn't seem to compare with her tears. They were only matched by his.


End file.
